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Avudar
The Avudar are the oldest of the major races, their culture spread across the Mortal Plane well before the arrival of the Divine Ones. Their namesake translates from Golic roughly as "elder child". In all their elegence and might, the Avudar have been butchered like cattle. They are a prime example of advanced culture, but culture could not protect them from betrayal or abuse. They are the product of all mortal progress and maturity, yet amount children when set before the forces of the universe. The Glass Harvest took a terrible toll on the race, as their bodies contain higher than normal amounts of soul energy. The Crystalline Lord harvested them for this resource, fueling his Crys industry. This event almost pushed the Avudar to extinction. It was due to the efforts of the brothers Yalcen and Yrsith in conjunction with Nix's rebellion that the some populaces escaped harvest. Most Avudar look down upon the divines as fools who dabble in the unknown without regard for the safety of the worlds around them. Having a negative view on beings as majestic as the divine cause the Avudar to hold even lower views on other mortal races. Appearance Avudar stand around two and a half meters tall and have an ectomorphic, humanoid shape. Their slender form is a result of their soul chamber absorbing all excess matter. For this same reason they have a light muscluar structure, small breasts, and a skeletal system that is only as robust as needed. Their skin appears glazed, giving them the likeness of porcelain. Other than these base similarities, Avudar vary greatly depending on origin. Before the Rending, they expanded into a large variety of enviroments and communities. Skin tone, horn formation, and sometimes muscle build dependant upon descent. Natives of Roevel liken unto the Goosha more than their peers, having elaborate horns and colorless skin. Avudar skin is very thin, revealing the soul veins that run across their bodies. Coloration in these veins is used to convey mood and conversation tone at a glance. Brief History Guild Era Ancient Avudar evolved from the mortal Goosha on Roevel. Expansion across the planet was slow, due to a small population and superstition. It was said that those who journeyed to the far reaches of the earth would find and be consumed by evil beings who dwelt there. The legend of the ascendant Goosha locked within the Nexus and Lotus had been passed down by the mortal Goosha, portraying them as monsters. The fate of the Old Way mystic, Jaryl Glaston strengthened the legends. The Avudar inhabited a swathe that ran from the Sentra Taiga to the Crystal Plain. The city of Kjeen was a primary hub of activity, though most Avudar prefered to live in small communities spread throughout the Pale Sward. Guild halls were based in Kjeen, providing the structure of Avudar life. Guilds provided governance, education, law enforcement, standardized currency, and labour. The most powerful guild, the Merchant Guild, handled all legal trade on Roevel. Coming of age, an Avudar would join a guild as a student. They would be attached to mentor until their skills were an adequate representation of the guild standard. This tutorship was provided freely to any child willing to learn. Guild dues were only charged once a member established themselves. The guild system allowed knowledge and skill to spread quickly, every member guaranteed a livelyhood and a purpose. Soon the guild officers ran local politics and positions of influence, anyone could aspire to such a positiion with hard work and loyalty. The Guild culture put an early emphasis on knowledge and skill in the Avudar's psyche. Individuals not affiliated with a guild were monikered as laymen. Laymen did not have guild rights or access to guild amenities. The guilds provided everything; laymen were banned from roads, city walls, guards, markets, and public forums. They became exiles of the land, shamed and reviled by their peers. After the discovery of the First City settlers began to spread across Roevel, primarily laymen. The laymen created new markets: relics from the First City, exotic spices from the Sunken Mor, ore and timber from Rothland. The guilds were forced to trade with these new settlements, shifting much wealth into new hands. Expansion Era The further spread the Avudar became, the less influence the guilds were afforded. They maintained their power in the city k'jeen, members belonging to the upper echelon. The arcane field of study was just beginning, and the guilds saw its potential. Craving to recapture their past glory, they began to fund the research an development of early arcware machines. Until this point, "magic" had been limited to Seers and biologists interested in the soul chamber. Natural arcane manipulation was much more difficult without the Lord of Souls. Arcware machinery could not only revert matter and energy into a pure state of soul, it could also reassemble it however the controller wished. However early arcware was very ineffcient, utilizing a meager 25% of the pure soul it produced. The remaining 75% was left as waste, breaking down the surrounding enviroment. The public did not support arcware due to its destructive byproduct. The guilds persisted, determined to create the first portal. It was not until a guild expedition discovered the Meld sleeping beneath the Valley of Hurn that they succeeded. Draining energy from the sleeping divine, they managed to collect enough energy for the inefficient arcware to produce a portal. This world gate was on the Crystal Plains and is still operational to this day. The guilds founded a secret laboratory in the cavern where the Meld slept, here they produced more advanced arcware that would fuel Avudar expansion in the coming years. They created great engines that could carry vehicles through space/time. However, these warp engines greated massive amounts of pure soul that remained in the area after activation. Space travel was achieved so that the engines could be activated in relative safety far from Roevel. Settlements were founded on countless habitable worlds and the Avudar population exploded in size. Various isolated populations underwent microevolution due to their environments and differing lifestyles. Cultures began to grow seperately from each other, and Roevel only maintained it's importance as a center of research and the seat of power for the guilds. Faction Era Many empires, republics, and federations came into being, each more powerful than the next. This era of history is marked by factions absorbing and splitting from one another constantly. The Avudar were spread so far across the Mortal Plane that it became possible to never know of various peoples and cultures. However, the guilds held influence over most factions in one way or another. Arrival of Divine Ones The divines arrived from the Spirit Plane weary of war. Rumor spread of a powerful alien race emerging in the far reaches of space, and the guilds made contact with Surt. They learned much from him, but kept their interactions secret from the public. Soon the divines grew bored of inactivity and approached the Avudar openly, expecting to be worshipped as gods. However the Avudar instead subjected them to questioning and study. A few cults did arise, but these cults primarily woshipped the Gol that the divines had brought with them. Unlike the Gol of the Spirit Plane, the Gol of the Forger were exemplars of creation and art, each one beautiful and unique. The Avudar believed that the selfish divines had done nothing to earn their adoration, but the Gol were pure and selfless beings. Seeing that nothing was to be gained, the divines left the Avudar to their own devices. More malleable races held their attention. Divine cults did begin to spread, but they were not taken seriously and were even persecuted in some areas. The divines did not care, let alone grant them an audience. Soon the divines faded into myth and legend. The Rending The divines began experimenting with dimensional barriers and movements, they attempted to fuse all Planes of reality together. This resulted in the Rending, the entire multiverse was torn asunder; time ceased, light failed, the laws that held reality together fled. Avudar worlds were trapped and isolated from another, their entire known universe was broken. Those worlds that were not outright destroyed by the Rending, collapsed beneath social upheaval. Very few Avudar worlds found their fragment of the Mortal Plane still abiding by the laws of physics, fewer amongst these could sustain themselves without interstellar trade. When the multiverse became whole once again, repaired by the divines, the Mortal Plane was not restored to its past order. The stars themselves were rearranged and the Avudar were still isolated and weak. The divines took advantage of this, enslaving the lone worlds beneath the newly formed Sacred Empire. The Glass Harvest The Avudar suffered greatly beneath the Sacred Empire. They were bred as livestock by the Crystalline Lord to be broken down into soul energy that fueled the creation of Crys. Those who did not meet the breeding standards were used in suicide battlemage squads. These squads were used to soften the enemies of the Divine Ones before an assault. Those who survived the initial onslaught were forced to continue fighting, often succumbing to soul burn. The Guardian, Geir, would arrive on a world in glorious splendor. She would tell the populace of the Crystalline Lord and his power and wisdom. She would create temples and raise up priests to enthrall the populace with silver tongues. Geir would proclaim that a day of reckoning would come, when the unfaithful would perish horribly. When the world's populace was subdued, Hirst would arrive with her armies. The pious Avudar would welcome her, turning over the unfaithful to face her judgement. Any remaining resistance would be blotted out by Hirst and the world would be conquered without effort. The temples became processing centers and the priests became Daemons. Geir would leave for the next Avudar world, leaving the Daemons in charge of breeding and processing the populace into soul energy. When Geir arrived upon Roevel, Yrsith cast her out and strictly forbade divine worship. He was a priest of the Old Way, the ancient religion of the Roevel Avudar. Furious, the Crystalline Lord sent Hirst to seize Roevel in open battle. Yrsith was given access to the power of the Lotus by his Gooshan wife, Amy. Drawing from the ancient, Gooshan city Yrsith single handedly defeated Hirst many times for many years. He spread the word to other Avudar worlds, warning them of the Glass Harvest. Yrsith's actions did not stop the Crystalline Lord's operation, but did slow it down. Beginning of Divine War The outbreak of the Divine War pitted the Avudar's masters against one another. Many used this chaos to escape, but most worlds remained under enslavement. The divines quickly realized they could cause the Avudar to defect by offering freedom, and freemen fought harder than slaves. Sinmara traveled across the Mortal Plane with Yrsith freeing many Avudar worlds from their Daemon rulers. When Yrsith returned to Roevel, Hirst was waiting for him in the city of Kjeen. He repelled her ambush but the city was destroyed and Yrsith himself was mortally wounded. With his dying breath, he contacted the artificial intelligence that maintained the city. He gave it a new purpose, ensure that Roevel would never fall into divine hands no matter the cost. The AI began to repurpose itself for Yrsith's task, eventually becoming the Su. Yalcen, the younger brother of Yrsith, heard of his brother's death and left to gather an army from the free Avudar worlds to defend Roevel. The Crystalline Lord also heard of Yrsith's death and Hirst quickly arrived to claim it. The Daemon Nix was put in charge of Roevel, but she was amibtious and her master was distracted by the Divine War. Geir persuaded Nix to join her in rebellion and together they defeated Hirst and her armies. Fearful of the Crystalline Lord's punishment, Geir fled. Nix set the Avudar free, prefering to control things from behind the scenes. She dared not use her Daemonic link, lest she reveal her location to her divine master. One of Nix's sons, Skax rescued the Torg from extinction on Roevel's moon. The Torg who refused to follow Skax made a pact with the Divine of Unity and left for the surface of Roevel. They settled upon the isle of Droven amongst the Zelji Empire, as no other Avudar faction would accept them. The Zelji Empire was greatly strengthened by these new Torg exiles, and would later grant them the Frostern Tundra for their loyalty. Exile warriors who swore fealty to the Divine of Unity formed the Kierv Knighthood. These Torg knights became renowned for both their combat prowess and deep love for fellow mortalkin. The Kierv fought for the Zelji Empire until its destruction. Middle of Divine War Yalcen returned with his army and found that Roevel had already been conquered and freed in his absence. He transformed his miltia into SIAR, the Sacred Institution of Arcane Research, to collect knowledge and power so that when the divines returned to Roevel the Avudar would be on equal footing. SIAR would take any steps necessary to ensure Avudar survival. Yalcen knew that the divines would return to Roevel one day, particularly the Crystalline Lord. Their primary University was just south of the Nexus, here they performed experiments with the goal of eventual ascendance for all Avudar. SIAR quickly gained large amounts of public approval. Yalcen reformed the ancient Wizards Guild and opened SIAR university to the public. He funded the urbanization of the Nexus, bringing many people north from the First City. Yalcen also attempted to make connections with his brother's wife, seeking the keys to the Lotus. Amy would not trust him and kept both the keys and Yalcen's nephew far from him. Her mistrust was wise. SIAR kidnapped the child, named Seer, and performed extensive research on his phsyiology. The Goosha were able to ascend, and SIAR hoped to find a short cut through the Gooshan/Avudar hybrid child. Amy sought help from Zeljiuus to rescue her child from SIAR. She promised to make his empire vast and rich if he aided her. Zeljiuus agreed and Amy gave him the legendary spear, Ender. to aid him in the rescue. He and several Zelji agents infiltrated SIAR university and stole the child and many secrets from them. SIAR declared the Zelji Empire a renagade state, but could not stop their following conquest across the Frostern Tundra. To keep an eye on the Torg Exiles living in the Tundra and further their research, SIAR restored the ancient labs in Hurn Valley. They rediscovered The Meld and drew power from him to fuel powerful arcane spells. The existence of a slumbering divine on Roevel was kept a closely guarded secret. End of Divine War As the Divine Ones seperated into the four Houses, the turmoil between SIAR and the Zelji Empire escalated. Zeljiuus slew the Arbiter of Hobar in secret and stole her cloak of invinsibility. Yalcen discovered this and informed Hobar of the Zelji's treachery. Hobar arrived with his armies upon Roevel in full force backed by SIAR. The Su were stirred into a frenzy by the arrival of a divine and began to run rampant across the southern continent. SIAR pleaded with Hobar to deal with Zeljiuus quickly, lest the entire world be consumed by the Su. Hobar smashed the ring of fortresses surrounding Droven Isle and broke the walls of Fiirnost personally. Things were going badly for the Zelji very quickly. Zeljiuus was the Arbiter of the Infinite Divine and his master appeared before him. The Divine One offered to hide the Zelji people on a secret planet, but Zeljiuus would have to stay and face the consequences of his actions. The entire population was teleported to the hidden world of Calendus. Hobar approached Zeljiuus, who sat alone waiting upon his throne. Wielding Ender and powerful arcane forces, Zeljiuus fought Hobar in single combat. Their battle collapsed the citadel of Fiirnost and caused tremours to shake the isle. Finally Hobar struck Zeljiuus with an immense blow, causing the cloak of invincibilty to shatter and the entire city to crumble. Zeljiuus survived, saved by the cloak he had stolen from Hobar's Arbiter and he teleported away. Ender was left behind and the Zelji Empire was defeated. While the Zelji recovered on Calendus, the Exile Torg remained on Roevel. They inherited the Isle of Droven and many Torg clans were formed in the Frostern Tundra. Mortal Rebellion Until this time, nearly every mortal owed their loyalty to one divine or another. Hanging on divine coattails was the only way to guarantee safety and success. However, mortal unrest was growing and SIAR saw an opportunity to push their anti-divine agenda. They incited rebellion on the world of Terros, a neutral peace zone for mortals and divines alike. The divine embassies and temples were cast down and soon all of Terros was consumed by violence as divine loyalists were slain. Word reached the divine Houses of the situation on Terros, and they reached an uneasy truce. United against the mortal rebellion, the Houses of Triumph, Justice, and Equilibrium prepared to move against Terros. Old Terros was a hub of trade and culture, linked to countless locations by a network of World Gates. It was from these World Gates that the armies of the divine arrived. Hopelessly outnumbered and overpowered, the mortal rebels began destroying entire sections of the world. If a divine force emerged from a gate, mortal agents detonated arcane bombs that tore the surrounding landscape free and hurled it into space. This slowed the divine advance for a time, but the Terros quickly began to crumble at its foundation. Soon the divines were opening new portals in populated areas. SIAR knew that Terros was a lost cause, and offered sanctum to all surviving mortals on Roevel. The Roevel World Gate was the last one functioning and billions of refugees fled towards it. Intent on seizing Roevel and ending the mortal aggression at its root, Tyra opened a portal directly in front of the the remaining world gate. The Honor Guard of the Kierv Knighthood valiantly surrounded the portal and entered to close it. Every last one of them perished, but they bought time for millions if not a billion mortals to escape. As the last Honor Guard fell and Terros fragmented, SIAR drained the Roevel World Gate of energy; sealing out billions of mortals and the remaining divine forces. The reignition of a world gate would require multiple divines to contribute their energy. Unwilling to weaken themselves amongst rival Houses, the Divine Ones elected to construct a massive spacefleet and set course for Roevel. The largest physical invasion fleet to ever exist took nearly a hundred years to arrive. During this time, SIAR prepared Roevel for a final stand. First Siege of Roevel